Phased arrays of buried-ridge InP/InGaAsP diode lasers

Phase-locked arrays of buried-ridge InP/InGaAsP lasers, emitting at 1.3 µm, were grown by liquid phase epitaxy. The arrays consist of index-guided, buried-ridge lasers which are coupled via their evanescent optical fields. This index-guided structure makes it possible to avoid the occurrence of lower gain in the interchannel regions. As a result, the buried-ridge arrays oscillate mainly in the fundamental supermode, which yields single lobed, narrow far-field patterns. Single lobed beams less than 4° in width were obtained from buried-ridge InP/InGaAsP phased arrays up to more than twice the threshold current

Phase-locking characteristics of coupled ridge-waveguide InP/InGaAsP diode lasers

The phase-locking characteristics of two coupled, ridge waveguide InP/InGaAsP diode lasers emitting at 1.2 µm were investigated experimentally. The phase locking of the lasers was verified by the observation of phase-locked modes (supermodes) in the spectrally resolved near fields and distinct diffraction patterns in the far field. By independent control of the laser currents it was possible to vary continuously the mutual phase shift between the two phase-locked lasers and thus steer the far-field diffraction lobes. In addition, the separate current control could be utilized to obtain single longitudinal mode oscillation of the phase-locked lasers. Variation in one of the laser currents resulted then in tuning of the wavelength of this single mode over a range of 90 Å

Cd diffused mesa-substrate buried heterostructure InGaAsP/InP laser

A new type of buried heterostructure InGaAsP/InP lasers grown by a single-step liquid phase epitaxy on Cd diffused mesa substrate is described. These lasers exhibit excellent current and optical confinement. Threshold currents as low as 15 mA are achieved for a laser with a 2-µm-wide active region

Synthesis of microporous silica nanoparticles to study water phase transitions by vibrational spectroscopy

Silica can take many forms, and its interaction with water can change dramatically at the interface. Silica based systems offer a rich tapestry to probe the confinement of water as size and volume can be controlled by various templating strategies and synthetic procedures. To this end, microporous silica nanoparticles have been developed by a reverse microemulsion method utilizing zinc nanoclusters encapsulated in hydroxyl-terminated polyamidoamine (PAMAM-OH) dendrimers as a soft template. These nanoparticles were made tunable within the outer diameter range of 20-50 nm with a core mesopore of 2-15 nm. Synthesized nanoparticles were used to study the effects of surface area and microporous volumes on the vibrational spectroscopy of water. These spectra reveal contributions from bulk interfacial/interparticle water, ice-like surface water, liquid-like water, and hydrated silica surfaces suggesting that microporous silica nanoparticles allow a way to probe silica water interactions at the molecular scale

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

Performance and Operation of the CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter

The operation and general performance of the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter using cosmic-ray muons are described. These muons were recorded after the closure of the CMS detector in late 2008. The calorimeter is made of lead tungstate crystals and the overall status of the 75848 channels corresponding to the barrel and endcap detectors is reported. The stability of crucial operational parameters, such as high voltage, temperature and electronic noise, is summarised and the performance of the light monitoring system is presented